Chapter 35: Thirty-Fifth Day of Lying Flat Like a Salted Fish

Zhu Rong tilted her head and thought for a while.

“Mechas have Gravity Stabilization Devices,” she said eventually.

She had a very deep memory of this particular device.

The reason was simple: it was one of the most difficult things to build, second only to the Warp System.

Gravity originates from universal gravitation, but it is impossible to simulate universal gravitation itself. If people want to simulate a change in gravity, the simplest method is to give an object acceleration. For example, when a Starship takes off or lands, people experience a slight sense of weightlessness or increased weight. Alternatively, inside some large Starships, centrifugal force generated by rotation is typically used to simulate gravity.

But a Mecha is too small—at least compared to a Starship. Relying on rotating the Mecha, or rotating certain parts inside it, wouldn’t just fail to make a person feel a force similar to gravity; it would make them dizzy.

At times like this, specific devices are needed to accomplish the task.

As early as the Mother Planet Era, humans had already developed a theory called “Relativity” to understand the world. Relativity proposed that gravity is, in essence, the curvature of spacetime. Based on this theory, as long as one can create spacetime curvature, one can artificially manufacture gravity.

Creating spacetime curvature was a fantasy for humans of the Mother Planet Era. But for the people of today, who can already Warp freely through cosmic space, it is not actually an impossible task.

However, it remains extremely difficult.

The biggest challenge lies in the fact that if one wants to use matter to influence space, a massive amount of mass or energy is required. For a Mecha or a small craft, too much mass is a heavy burden. Therefore, people thought of and utilized something else—

Mental Power.

This is why modern society has a massive demand for Awakeners, especially those with high Mental Power.

It isn’t just that Mental Power enhances a person’s thinking speed and physical fitness; more importantly, to complete a Warp or generate gravity—activities essential for interstellar travel—the help of a Mental Power Awakener is mandatory.

Mental Power is also a form of energy. However, trying to directly influence space with Mental Power alone… Lu Yuan could certainly do it, but for others, it would likely be very difficult. This is where tools are needed for assistance.

Similar tools were being researched hundreds of years ago. Today, the technology is very mature, so Zhu Rong and the others only needed to follow the blueprints to build one.

The only problem was that it was excessively precise and complex, making it difficult to manufacture.

This was the reason they had simply given up on the Mental Power control system later on. It wasn’t that it was truly impossible to build, but rather that any equipment involving Mental Power was a nightmare to handle.

Still, while they could do without a Mental Power control system, a Gravity Stabilization Device was necessary.

Everyone was well aware of the effects of gravity on the human body. On the Desolate Planet, they hadn’t experienced, nor had the chance to experience, gravity adaptation training. Without a Gravity Stabilization Device, rashly enduring ultra-high gravity or total weightlessness could actually be fatal.

It was just like the Warp System; even though it was a massive headache, they had eventually built one anyway. Without a Warp System, given their piece-of-junk Mecha, trying to reach the nearest Habitable Planet would take thirty or forty years…

But what Lu Yuan wanted to discuss wasn’t the issue of the Gravity Stabilization Device.

“That maintains stability inside the cockpit, not the stability of the Mecha as a whole,” he said. “It can reduce the impact of environmental gravity on the human body, but the impact of gravity on the Mecha itself still exists.”

Zhu Rong understood. “In a gravity environment like the Desolate Planet, if I want to keep the Mecha’s arm raised, I need to continuously apply ten units of force to it. But in space, once it’s raised, it stays raised; there’s no need to keep applying force,” she said.

“More than that.” Lu Yuan shook his head. “More importantly, on the Desolate Planet, when you raise the arm, the shoulder joint gives the arm an acceleration, and the arm returns an equal force to the shoulder. An object moves when force is applied to it. The reason your Mecha remains stable is that the ground provides a supporting force.

“But in a weightless state, without the ground, when you raise the arm, the body will rotate in the opposite direction.”

“…” Zhu Rong fell silent.

Siming stood to the side and exchanged a look with Goudan. Both saw clear bewilderment in each other’s eyes.

They didn’t understand a word.

Old Fourth, however, understood.

“I thought that building a Mecha according to blueprints wouldn’t require too much knowledge, so I only taught you mechanical mechanics,” Old Fourth chuckled. “It seems that wasn’t enough. You still need to learn some dynamics.”

“…I’ll learn,” Zhu Rong nodded.

Lu Yuan smiled. “Actually, there’s no rush to learn it now. You’ll have to go to school after you leave anyway. You’re only twelve; when you go out and start middle school, you’ll happen to learn all this.”

“Once the first Mecha is built, the ones after will be easier,” Zhu Rong said. “I have time.”

Lu Yuan thought about it. “Not necessarily. But if you want, I’ll find some books for you tomorrow. It’s not that hard.”

“Okay!” Zhu Rong nodded.

Siming asked from the side, “Speaking of which, how many Mechas are we building in total?”

“That depends on how many of you want to leave.” Lu Yuan looked at him. “Count them up yourself. Why are you asking me?”

“I mainly wanted to ask if we should save one for you.”

“…” Lu Yuan shook his head. “Why leave one of those things for me? I don’t want to go out.”

After a pause, he added, “Actually, there’s no need for everyone to leave all at once. One person can go out first, get a Starship out there and fly it back, then pick everyone else up.”

“Is getting a Starship that easy?” Siming was speechless. “By the way, what’s the market price for a Starship these days? Not a Garbage Ship like this, but the kind that can Warp.”

Lu Yuan had no concept of this and turned to look at Goudan. “Goudan, help look it up.”

Goudan was capable of accessing the StarNet.

Those messy TV dramas he watched—the ones Lu Yuan didn’t even know where he’d found—were pulled from the StarNet.

But without Lu Yuan’s permission, he wouldn’t search for other things randomly. One shouldn’t push their luck. Goudan had always been a person who knew his place.

Moreover, Goudan knew very well that Lu Yuan could see all of his search history.

Perhaps he could clear the local records, but there was no point, and he didn’t dare.

On one hand, clearing local records was useless because there would still be many traces on the StarNet that Lu Yuan would have to clear himself. That was a technical job. Lu Yuan had never thought of teaching Goudan, and Goudan never thought he could learn it.

On the other hand, if he deleted the local records and Lu Yuan accidentally missed something while clearing the traces… Goudan would be riddled with guilt if his actions led to their location being exposed.

However, since Lu Yuan had asked him to check now, he naturally helped look it up.

“Um…” After a long while, Goudan said, “Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions, ten millions, billions… anyway, it looks like there are about a dozen zeros in front of the billion unit.”

“…” The world went dark before Siming’s eyes.

“Is it that expensive?” Lu Yuan thought for a moment. “The manufacturing cost shouldn’t be that high, otherwise they wouldn’t have been willing to touch my Command Ship… How much for a Garbage Ship like this?”

Goudan searched for a while longer and shook his head. “Can’t find it. That model isn’t on the market at all.”

“Fine.” Lu Yuan didn’t care much. However, speaking of their departure, he remembered something he had been forgetting to mention.

“There’s one more thing,” he said. “Remember not to tell anyone you’ve seen me here. Get your stories straight so no one slips up. If you’re going to bring outsiders to the Desolate Planet, let me know in advance so I can move somewhere else.”

“Do you really not want to go out that badly?” Siming asked. “What’s so good about a place like this Desolate Planet…”

“Yeah, there’s nothing good about it,” Lu Yuan answered very matter-of-factly. “But here, I can lie flat in peace. No one will find me.”

“…” Siming’s face was scrunched up. Lu Yuan’s ideals were even harder for him to understand than Goudan’s obsession with TV dramas. What exactly was the benefit of being a total slacker?

“If we go out, will anyone associate us with you?” Zhu Rong suddenly asked.

“As long as you don’t say anything, no one will think you have any connection to me, right?” Lu Yuan thought about it. “I’m already dead. Besides, the place where I died is so far from this Desolate Planet.”